Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Monday, May 25, 2009

United States Senatorfrom New JerseyIncumbentAssumed office January 18, 2006Serving with Frank LautenbergPreceded by Jon CorzineMember of the U.S. House of Representativesfrom New Jersey's 13th districtIn officeJanuary 5, 1993 – January 18, 2006Preceded by Jim SaxtonSucceeded by Albio SiresBorn January 1, 1954 (age 55)New York City, New YorkPolitical party DemocraticSpouse Jane Menendez (Divorced)Children Alicia MenendezRobert MenendezResidence Hoboken, New JerseyAlma mater Saint Peter's CollegeOccupation attorneyReligion Roman CatholicRobert "Bob" Menendez (born January 1, 1954) is the junior United States Senator from New Jersey and a member of the Democratic Party. In January 2006, he was appointed by Jon Corzine to fill the seat made vacant by Corzine's resignation from the Senate to serve as Governor of New Jersey; Menendez subsequently won the seat in the November 7 general election later that year. Before his appointment to the Senate, he represented New Jersey's 13th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2006. He currently resides in Hoboken. He is the first person of Hispanic ethnicity to represent New Jersey in the U.S. Senate.After the 2008 elections, Menendez was appointed to head the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. [1]Contents [hide]

Menendez was born in New York City to Cuban immigrants Evangelina and Mario Menendez.[2] Fleeing Cuba in 1953 due to their dislike of the Batista government, his parents came to New York[3]. His father was a mechanic and his mother was a seamstress[4]. He grew up in Union City, New Jersey, where he graduated from Union Hill High School.After graduating with a B.A. from Saint Peter's College, he attended Rutgers School of Law-Newark in Newark, from which he obtained his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree. He is a brother of Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc.[5] He was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1980 and became a lawyer in private practice.He married Jane Jacobsen, a teacher for the Union City Board of Education, and the couple had two children: Alicia, a graduate of Harvard University, and Robert, a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Menendez and Jacobsen have since divorced.During his free time, Robert Menendez helps out the future leaders of America. On the final day of the 2008 New Jersey American Legion Boys State, Robert Menendez was a prominent speaker.[edit]Early political career

In 1973, at age 19, while attending Saint Peter's College in Jersey City, he launched a successful petition drive against his mentor, then-Union City Mayor William Musto, to reform the local school board. He was elected to the Union City Board of Education in 1974, and would later testify against Musto in a court case that resulted in a prison sentence for Musto.Menendez was elected mayor of Union City in 1986 and served as mayor until 1992. While mayor, he simultaneously served in the New Jersey Legislature, a common practice for New Jersey politicians. He was in the General Assembly from 1987 until 1991 and in the New Jersey Senate from 1990 to 1993, following the death of Christopher Jackman.[edit]United States House of Representatives

Menendez as a CongressmanIn 1992, 14th District Congressman Frank Guarini retired after seven terms. Menendez won the Democratic nomination for the Jersey City-based district, which was renumbered the 13th after New Jersey lost a district in the 1990 Census, and was easily elected that November. The district was already heavily Democratic, but had been redrawn with a Hispanic majority after the 1990 census. He was reelected six times with no significant Republican opposition.In 1996, Menendez was briefly a candidate in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat held by the retiring Bill Bradley, but he backed out and the seat was won by Democrat Robert Torricelli. In 2002 Menendez voted against the Iraq Resolution to authorize the invasion of Iraq.[6]In 2003, Menendez was elected chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, ranking him third in the Democratic hierarchy in the house, behind House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland. He was elected to chair the Credentials Committee of the 2004 Democratic National Convention and was a speaker on the first day of the convention. During the 107th Congress, he was chair of the Democratic Task Force on Education and the Democratic Task Force on Homeland Security.Although he had sometimes been portrayed as the political boss of Hudson County, he strongly dislikes this appellation, particularly because, according to an anonymous close source quoted in the December 11, 2005 Union City Reporter, "there is no boss of Hudson County".[7] Menendez is also seen as one leader in a fractured political establishment tenuously united by agreements that permitted the county to generate a significant vote for Corzine in the 2005 gubernatorial race.[citation needed][edit]United States Senate

Congressman Robert Menendez spoke on the importance of small businesses in the U.S. economy in Texas.While several other names had been mentioned, Menendez was the early favorite among pundits for Governor-elect Corzine's replacement to fill the vacancy that would be created when Corzine resigned from the Senate. Corzine's decision to appoint Menendez got the support of several Latino groups, including the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.Menendez is the first member of a minority to represent New Jersey in the Senate, and only the sixth Hispanic to serve in that body. He joins Republican Mel Martinez of Florida (also of Cuban descent) as the only two Hispanics currently in the Senate. He is on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Budget and Energy and Natural Resources committees.In February 2006, Menendez cosponsored legislation with New York Senator Hillary Clinton to make it illegal for foreign governments to buy U.S. port operations. The legislation was a direct response to Dubai Ports World's efforts to purchase Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) of the United Kingdom, which operates six major U. S. ports. Menendez said, "Our ports are the front lines of the war on terrorism. They are both vulnerable targets for attack and venues for smuggling and human trafficking. We wouldn't turn the Border Patrol or the Customs Service over to a foreign government, and we can't afford to turn our ports over to one either."[8]On September 28, 2006 Menendez voted for the Military Commissions Act.[9]On June 12, 2007, Menendez endorsed Hillary Clinton's presidential bid and was given the position of National Campaign Co-Chair. Subsequently he made numerous media appearances voicing his support for her campaign.[10]On April 25, 2008, a former undercover F.B.I. agent revealed in the book Ruse: Undercover with FBI Counterintelligence that Cuban diplomats approached Robert Eringer to investigate Menendez. It was suggested that the Cuban government was determined to generate scandalous information about the senator, along with Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Diaz-Balart, because of their anti-Cuban lobbyi

BAN KI-MOONBan Ki-moon of the Republic of Korea, the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations, brings to his post 37 years of service both in Government and on the global stage.

Career highlightsAt the time of his election as Secretary-General, Mr. Ban was his country's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. His long tenure with the Ministry included postings in New Delhi, Washington D.C. and Vienna, and responsibility for a variety of portfolios, including Foreign Policy Adviser to the President, Chief National Security Adviser to the President, Deputy Minister for Policy Planning and Director-General of American Affairs. Throughout this service, his guiding vision was that of a peaceful Korean peninsula, playing an expanding role for peace and prosperity in the region and the wider world.

Mr. Ban has long-standing ties with the United Nations, dating back to 1975, when he worked for the Foreign Ministry's United Nations Division. That work expanded over the years, with assignments as First Secretary at the Republic of Korea's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, Director of the United Nations Division at the Ministry's headquarters in Seoul and Ambassador to Vienna, during which time, in 1999, he served as Chairman of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization. In 2001-2002, as Chef de Cabinet during the Republic of Korea's presidency of the General Assembly, he facilitated the prompt adoption of the first resolution of the session, condemning the terrorist attacks of 11 September, and undertook a number of initiatives aimed at strengthening the Assembly's functioning, thereby helping to turn a session that started out in crisis and confusion into one in which a number of important reforms were adopted.

Mr. Ban has also been actively involved in issues relating to inter-Korean relations. In 1992, as Special Adviser to the Foreign Minister, he served as Vice-Chair of the South-North Joint Nuclear Control Commission following the adoption of the historic Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. In September 2005, as Foreign Minister, he played a leading role in bringing about another landmark agreement aimed at promoting peace and stability on the Korean peninsula with the adoption at the six-party talks of the Joint Statement on resolving the North Korean nuclear issue.

EducationMr. Ban received a bachelor's degree in international relations from Seoul National University in 1970. In 1985, he earned a master's degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. In July 2008, Mr. Ban received an honorary Doctoral Degree from Seoul National University.

Prizes and awardsMr. Ban has received numerous national and international prizes, medals and honours. In 1975, 1986 and again in 2006, he was awarded the Republic of Korea's Highest Order of Service Merit for service to his country. In April 2008, he was awarded the dignity of the “Grand-Croix de L'Ordre National” (Grand Cross of the National Order) in Burkina Faso, and in the same month received the “Grand Officier de L'Ordre National” (Grand Officer of the National Order) from the Government of Côte d'Ivoire.

PersonalMr. Ban was born on 13 June 1944. He and his wife, Madam Yoo (Ban) Soon-taek, whom he met in high school in 1962, have one son and two daughters. In addition to Korean, Mr. Ban speaks English and French.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon25 May 2009 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly deplored the conduct of an underground nuclear test by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday, in “clear and grave” violation of resolutions of the Security Council which also spoke out against the act.“The Secretary-General is deeply concerned that this act will negatively affect regional peace and stability as well as the global nuclear non-proliferation regime,” his spokesperson said in a statement.

The members of the Security Council, which met in an emergency session convened at the request of Japan, “voiced their strong opposition to and condemnation of the nuclear test,” Ambassador Vitaly I. Churkin of Russia, which holds the rotating presidency of the 15-member body for the month of May, told reporters after the closed-door meeting.

Mr. Churkin added that Council members have decided to start work immediately on a resolution on this matter in accordance with the body's responsibilities under the UN Charter.

Following DPRK's claims to have conducted a nuclear test in October 2006, the Council had demanded that it “not conduct any further nuclear test or launch of a ballistic missile” and imposed sanctions against the country.

Most recently, both Mr. Ban and the Council spoke out after the East Asian nation, against strong international appeals, carried out rocket launches.

They also called for the early resumption of the Six-Party Talks, involving DPRK, Republic of Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the United States.

In today's statement, Mr. Ban urged DPRK to refrain from taking further actions that would increase tensions in the region, and insisted that the country comply with its obligations and restart dialogue with the parties concerned without delay.

SourceBorn: February 16 1941Birthplace: Siberia, Soviet Union (now Russia)Best Known As: Dictatorial leader of North KoreaKim Jong-il is the son of, and successor to, longtime North Korean leader Kim Il-sung. North Korea's government is secretive, and little is known about Kim Jong-il. While son and heir apparent, he had a reputation as a spoiled playboy who vainly wore platform shoes to appear taller. After his father's death in 1994, Kim Jong-il managed to retain power (although he did not assume his father's titles until 1997, when he was named secretary of the Communist party). By that time North Korea had become of the most isolated countries in the world, with an economy in a shambles and frequent famines. Kim's attempts to acquire nuclear weapons for North Korea are no secret, and in 2002 U.S. president George W. Bush declared North Korea to be part of an "axis of evil" along with Iran and Iraq.

Kim Jong-il is known as "Dear Leader," while his father was called "Great Leader"... Kim's official biography says he was born on 16 February 1942, in a log cabin on Korea's Mount Paekdu. However, many experts believe he was born in 1941 in the Soviet Union, where Kim Il-sung was living in exile... According to political specialist Dr. Jerold Post, as quoted on CNN, Kim stands 5'2" tall, drinks Hennessey cognac, and owns a collection of 20,000 movies which includes the complete James Bond series.

Answers.com ▼ WikiAnswers.com ▼ SearchHelpEnter a word or phrase... All Community Q&A Reference topics Browse: Unanswered questions | Most-recent questions | Reference libraryPolitical Biography: Kim Jong IlTopHome > Library > History, Politics & Society > Political Biographies(b. Soviet Union, 16 Feb. 1942) Korean; second ranked political leader 1980 – 94, primary leader 1994 – Kim's political career was an accident of birth. As the son of North Korea's paramount leader, Kim Il Sung, Kim junior was groomed for political succession from an early age. Having sat out the Korean War in Manchuria, he later studied philosophy at the Kim Il Sung University. Some reports suggest that he also spent some time at the East German Air Force Academy.

Kim became his father's secretary while still in his early twenties, and held a number of important posts before becoming the official number two to his father in 1980. He took over an increasing amount of his father's work in the 1980s whilst establishing a basis for succession. Official reports stopped referring to him by name, instead using the title "Dear Leader" to indicate his political pedigree and seniority. Kim also took over the mantle of ideological legitimacy — he was the only person who truly understood his father's genius, and the only person who could continue the great revolution.

Kim did indeed succeed his father in July 1994, but the succession was far from smooth. Kim only took over because he represented his father's ideas. But this was at a time when many Korean leaders blamed his father's ideas for the near collapse of the economy. Kim's desire to exercise political power is also questionable. He is rumoured to have a massive collection of Western films, and appears happier talking about cultural affairs than making political speeches or inspecting guards of honour. Lacking the charisma, ruthlessness, and political wit of his father, and with floods causing famine and economic collapse in 1995 – 6, neither Kim nor the North Korean economy is likely to have a particularly rosy future.

Biography: Kim Jong IlTopHome > Library > Miscellaneous > BiographiesKim Jong Il (born 1941) was the eldest son of Kim Il-sung, the founder and leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and his heir apparent. After 1985 he began to take part in North Korean state activities and to acquire honorific titles.Kim Jong Il (or Kim Chong-il) was the eldest son of North Korea's leader, Kim Il-sung, who founded the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in 1948. Kim Il-sung, while still in command, enjoyed his charisma as the "undisputed" leader of Communist North Korea. He had been general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 1946, and in 1980 his son Jong Il was made one of the party secretaries charged with the day-today operation of the Communist Party. Thus, the first Communist state with a father-son hereditary rule and political succession emerged in North Korea, which increasingly resembled ancient Korea's "Hermit Kingdom."

In order to solidify the position of Kim Il-sung, and also to legitimize the father-son political succession, the cult of personality - which was extended beyond Kim Il-sung to encompass his son Jong Il - was promoted. The North Koreans celebrate the birthday anniversaries of their leaders, perhaps a reflection of Confucian cultural legacy. Kim Ilsung's birthday anniversary has been a national holiday since 1972. Since 1976, the period from February 16, Kim Jong Il's birthday, to April 15, his father's birthday, was designated the "Loyalty Festival Period." When Kim Jong Il's place as the political leader was officially proclaimed during the Sixth WPK Congress in 1980, he became the undisputed de facto leader.

Early Years of the Heir

Kim Jong Il was born on February 16, 1941, in the Soviet Union as the first son of Kim Il-sung and his wife, Kim Jong-suk (who later died). Jong Il's childhood name was Yura (a Russian name). His brother, two years his junior, drowned at the age of two. Kim Jong II attended the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School, which was set up to educate the descendants of Kim Il-sung's comrades in arms during the anti-Japanese guerrilla years and to train future political leaders in North Korea. He briefly attended a primary school in Jilin, China, from 1950 to 1952 during the Korean War. He graduated from Namsan middle-high school in Pyongyang in 1958 and then attended the Air Academy in East Germany from 1960 to 1962. He subsequently transferred to Kim Il-sung University, where he graduated in 1963 with a major in political economy.

In 1964 Kim Jong Il began his career in the WPK Secretariat Organization and Guidance Department under the tutelage of his father and his uncle Kim Yong-ju, who was then in charge of the office. He rapidly climbed up the ladder of party hierarchy. In 1970 Kim Jong Il became director of the Culture and Art Department of the WPK Secretariat. In that capacity he was credited with having directed the production of five major operas, including The Flower Selling Maiden and The Song of Paradise.

Preparation for Succession

By 1973 Kim Jong Il organized and directed the Three Revolutions Team Movement as preparation for his quest to succeed his father in political office. The code word of "Party Center" began to appear in order to keep the identity of Kim Jong Il secret, so that his mystique could be enhanced and perpetuated. Kim junior also acquired such honorific titles as "beloved leader," "leading star," and "the sun of Communist future." His portraits appeared in public buildings and schools, together with his father's. He also initiated a series of "on-the-spot guidance" tours, a technique his father had used frequently as a means of control and inspection.

Advancing his claim for legitimacy, Kim Jong Il was credited with having authored a number of "immortal classics." The first was a treatise entitled "On the Juche Idea" in 1982 to mark his father's 70th birthday. (Juche is the application of nationalism and self-reliance to broad revolutionary principles.) Kim Jong Il published two additional treatises: "The Workers' Party of Korea is a Juche-type Revolutionary Party which Inherited the Glorious Tradition of the DIU (Down-with-Imperialism Union)" on October 17, 1982, and "Let Us Advance Under the Banner of Marxism-Leninism and the Juche Idea" on May 3, 1983. DIU, allegedly formed by his father in 1926 at the age of 14, was claimed by Kim Jong Il to have been "a fresh start of the Korean Communist movement and the Korean revolution." By stating that he wrote the second essay on the occasion of the 165th birthday of Karl Marx and the centenary of his death, Kim Jong Il promoted himself to the ranks of Communism's founding fathers. This hidden agenda item is clearly shown in the introductory statement issued by the promoter of his publications, Pyongyang's Foreign Languages Publishing House, which read:

The dear leader Comrade Kim Jong Il is working denying himself sleep and rest to inherit and complete brilliantly the revolutionary cause of Juche started by the great leader Comrade Kim Il-sung. He is the outstanding thinker and theoretician who has fully mastered the great leader's revolutionary ideas; he is the sagacious leader of our Party and people who is possessed of brilliant wisdom, unusual insight and refined art of leadership; and he is the real leader of the people who has unboundedly lofty virtues.

China played a role in helping promote Kim Jong Il's claim for legitimacy. In June of 1983 Kim Jong Il paid an unofficial, ten-day visit to China, which was followed by an invitation for a second official visit in 1985. The Soviet Union reportedly also extended an invitation for an official visit by Kim Jong Il. These invitations were belated gestures by North Korea's allies to recognize the father-son political succession scheme while still officially disavowing a hereditary system in Communist politics.

Although Kim Jong Il's family life is shrouded in mystery, he is believed to have had two children as of the early 1980s. (This information was inadvertently revealed by Kim Il-sung to a visiting dignitary, the chairman of Japan's Socialist Party, when he told the latter that he had two grandchildren.) Kim Jong Il was to have ascended to the North Korean Presidency after the death of his father, Kim Il-sung, on July 8, 1994. This would have marked the first hereditary transfer of power in a Marxist, communist state. Two months after his father's death, Kim Jong Il still had not been announced as the head of state and had not been seen in public. Rumored reasons for this included a struggle for political control and the observance of a mourning period by Kim. As of mid 1997, Kim Jong Il was still waiting to receive the Presidency.

Further Reading

For accounts of Korea's recent political history, 1945-1983, see: Young Whan Kihl, Politics and Policies in Divided Korea: Regimes in Contest (1984); Young Whan Kihl, "North Korea: A Reevaluation," in Current History (April 1982); and Chong-Sik Lee, "Evolution of the Korean Workers' Party and the Rise of Kim Chong-il," in Asian Survey (May 1982). For information regarding the stalled presidency read "A World Without Kim" in Time (July 18, 1994) and "Kim Jong Il: Now It's His Turn" in Time (July 18, 1994), and Pyon Jin Il "Authenticity of Rumors of Kim Jong Il's Downfall,"http://www.smn.co.jp/topics/pyon.html, August 5, 1997.

(born Feb. 16, 1941, Siberia, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Son of Kim Il-sung. He was designated his father's successor in 1980 and became North Korea's de facto leader on his father's death in 1994. Known in North Korea as the Dear Leader, he makes few public appearances. After the onset of a severe famine (1995 – 98), he began to relax his country's extreme isolationism.For more information on Kim Jong Il, visit Britannica.com.

Did kim jong kook and yoon eun hye already meet or seen after jong kook was discharged from military service? Read answer... When did Kim Jong Il come to power? Read answer... Who is the girlfriend of kim jong il? Read answer...

Alejandro Cao de Benos de Les y Pérez (Tarragona, Spain - 1974) is the president of the Korean Friendship Association (KFA) and has been an advocate of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) since 1990. He is currently an honorary Special Delegate of the DPRK's Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, and his activities are occasionally mentioned in bulletins from the Korean Central News Agency. His Korean name, Zo Sun-il ("Korea is One"), is officially recognized by North Korea.He has lived in Tarragona and Barcelona, in the region of Catalonia, Spain, working as IT consultant,[clarification needed] and in Lisbon, Portugal.Contents [hide]1 North Korean positions and awards2 Official activities in North Korea3 Controversy and criticism4 See also5 External links6 References

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Funny that the Houston Chronicle with its 400 reporters couldn’t run down this story.

President Hugo Chavez announced a month ago that he hopes to sell off its refineries in the United States and build a new network of refineries in Latin America as part of a plan to offer his allies in the region a stable oil supply. He must have a buyer lined up.

In 2005, he said that within two years he would sell off Citgo and the refineries of the heavy sour crude.

This July, it will have been two years.

Attorneys with a prominant Houston law firm are in Venezuela now with closing documents on the sale of assets.

The Citgo brand is worthless, but the refineries can easily be converted to handle the oil-tar sands of Canada and heavy oil of Mexico, the latter being a much closer trip.

On June 26, Venezuela’s state-owned oil company officially took over multibillion-dollar projects owned by ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil, Rafael Ramirez, the country’s energy minister, said.

The action was being taken following a failure to agree the terms of a handover of operations in the oil-rich Orinoco belt, said Mr Ramirez.

The oil groups refused to sign an agreement on how the Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA would take majority control of heavy crude oil projects in the Orinoco belt, which are valued at a total of at least $25 billion.

The loss of its Venezuelan operations would be a particular blow to ConocoPhillips. Its operations in the Orinoco belt were valued at about $6bn and accounted for about 10 per cent of the company’s reserve base and 4 per cent of its worldwide production.

Mr Ramirez said PDVSA (owner of Citgo in the U.S.) was increasing its share in the four projects, which lie above some of he largest heavy crude oil reserves in the world, from an average of 40 per cent to 78 per cent.

Hugo “The Boss” Chavez, Venezuela’s president, announced the state takeover of majority control of operations in the Orinoco belt this year, along with the nationalisation of Venezuela’s largest electricity and telephone companies.

Mr Ramirez, who is also the president of PDVSA, said Chevron, Total, BP and Statoil had said they would sign agreements allowing them to continue operating in the area, which can produce 600,000 barrels of oil a day, a quarter of Venezuela’s output.

However, analysts said that both ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which was the most exposed of the private companies in the Orinoco, refused to accept minority positions in the ventures for compensation that they considered to be below market value. The companies appeared still to be in talks with Venezuela over the handover.

Petro-Canada also pulled out of the country, saying: “We have decided not to migrate to the new commercial structure, so our working interest passes to the Venezuelan government.”

Analysts said the country needed the expertise of private companies. Venezuela’s oil industry has stagnated in recent years, with production falling 10 per cent during the past decade.

ExxonMobil said it was “disappointed that we have been unable to reach an agreement on the terms for migration to a mixed enterprise structure. However, we continue discussions with the Venezuelan government on a way forward.”

ConocoPhillips said it expected to take an impairment of about $4.5 billion in the second quarter for its entire interest in its Venezuelan oil projects as negotiations continued with authorities over compensation for the company’s stake in the projects.

So we are at a major flash point. What will the U.S. do to compensate the billions taken over by Hugo Chavez?I share the idea that Citgo refineries will be sold to one of the U.S. oil companies who have been damaged by the Chavez shut down of their Venezuelan projects. It’s right on schedule to happen in July, both the U.S. and Venezuela have national birthdays in July. Good timing for anothe speech by Hugo!

Just days ago, Felix Rodriguez, chief executive officer at Citgo Petroleum, the U.S. refining business of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, is being transferred to the parent company’s European operations.

Rodriguez will be replaced by Citgo Chairman Alejandro Granado, said Bernardo Alvarez, Venezuela’s ambassador to the U.S. The change will take place in a few weeks, Alvarez said Saturday in an interview in Chicago.

This is an idication that it is over for the few hundred Citgo employees who have been holding on to their jobs. Tip, get ready to apply for unemployment insurance and start checkin Monster.com regularly.

Houston-based Citgo controls about 5 percent of U.S. oil- refining capacity through four plants in Texas, Louisiana, Illinois and New Jersey, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The company sold its 41 percent stake in a joint-venture refinery to partner Houston-based Lyondell Chemical Co. in August for $2.1 billion. Rodriguez became chief executive at Citgo in February 2005.

Hugo has proposed a national bond to raise money for social spending as he hosted a summit of “the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas” (ALBA), a leftist bloc and trade group that includes Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia and Nicaragua.

“I proposed that we issue an ALBA bond. I hope that we can do it. … And that we issue it here in Venezuela, as we did with Argentina, and bring in $1 billion,” said Mr. Chavez, addressing leaders April 29 on final day of their talks. The Venezuelan president said the money acquired would be put in a fund to provide credit for ALBA nations.Mr. Chavez and other leaders signed accords for Venezuela to supply fuel under preferential terms and join other countries in cooperative projects on education, telecommunications, mining and other areas.He said Venezuela will guarantee to supply 100 percent of the energy needs of ALBA members plus Haiti. ALBA was created in 2004 by Cuba and Venezuela as a counterproposal to U.S. backed free-trade plans.Mr. Chavez said Venezuela eventually plans to help build a network of refineries in Nicaragua, Haiti, Ecuador, Bolivia and Dominica, and to refurbish Cuba’s Cienfuegos refinery, to provide a stable supply of oil — and the earnings it generates — to Latin American countries.He noted that Venezuela’s Citgo Petroleum Corp. has seven refineries in the United States and said “part of our plans is to sell those refineries.”Under special oil arrangements offered by Venezuela, ALBA member nations will be able to finance 50 percent of the bill for fuel through low-interest loans, and 25 percent of the total bill will go into a special “ALBA Fund” to support local projects using loans, he said.Leaders attending included Haitian President Rene Preval, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Bolivian President Evo Morales and Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage, as well as officials from Uruguay, Ecuador, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Apparently the consumer boycot of Citgo has worked. Chavez will not be able to make a dollar from selling the second rate brand to help fuel his revolution to destroy America. But he will make a billion or three selling the refineries.

Asdrúbal ChávezAsdrúbal Chávez obtained a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Universdad de Los Andes in 1979. He began his career in the oil industry that same year, at the El Palito refinery in central Venezuela.Chávez is currently the vice president of refining, trade and supply at PDVSA. Since January 2005, he has been a director of PDVSA and CITGO, the president of PDV Marina, and the PDVSA representative at various affiliates and joint ventures.He also acted as the leader of the team that negotiated the 2004-2006 Collective Labor Contract.Outside of his roles within PDVSA, in 2000 he was assigned to the Ministry of Production and Commerce, to assist with its restructuring.

News RoomCITGO-Venezuela Heating Oil Program Launched in Washington Metropolitan Area

WASHINGTON D.C., January 29, 2009 – The President of CITGO Petroleum Corporation, Alejandro Granado, Citizens Energy Chairman Joseph P. Kennedy II and representatives of the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the United States launched the 2009 CITGO-Venezuela Heating Oil Program here today by making the inaugural delivery of free fuel to the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House.

“In light of the current global financial crisis, CITGO is making a huge effort to continue its social programs in alignment with the solidarity principles endorsed by the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, under the leadership of President Hugo Chávez, and carried out by its national oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A (PDVSA),” Granado said, adding that “this is the largest social initiative implemented by any energy company in this country.”

Carried out in partnership by CITGO and Citizens Programs Corporation, the program has provided heating oil to more than one million people in need throughout the United States.

“We know this is a big effort,” Granado said. “Due to the limited resources that are available at the present time, we at CITGO are extremely proud of being able to continue the CITGO-Venezuela Heating Oil Program to help the most vulnerable in this country,” he noted.

Last winter (2007-2008), the heating oil program provided more than 200,000 households in 23 states, 223 tribal communities and large low-income housing cooperatives in New York City with fuel. Also, the CITGO funds provided heating grants to over 210 homeless shelters in 14 states, including the District.

The commitment by Venezuela and CITGO was developed in the aftermath of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina in 2005, when the company stepped forward to help communities ravaged by the storms, and thus responded positively to a plea to oil companies made by a group of U.S. senators. At the same time, Citizens Programs began hearing from more families struggling to keep pace with rising energy costs, especially during the winter, when temperatures dropped and the need for heating fuels increased.

“We approach every major oil company and every OPEC nation each year to ask that a small slice of their profits go to help the poor,” said Citizens Energy Chairman, Joseph P. Kennedy II. “Only one oil company – CITGO – and only one nation – Venezuela – stepped up to the plate to offer a helping hand.”

“The continuation of the program in 2009 demonstrates the genuine commitment of President Hugo Chávez to the most vulnerable in the United States in spite of the ongoing global financial crisis,” Kennedy added.

The Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House, named after the founder of the Catholic Workers Movement, provides transitional shelter for women and their children as they rebuild their lives. The center currently provides housing for five mothers with nine children. Five volunteers also live at the center and provide support to the families. "We try to follow the example of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, co-founders of the movement, who believed in hospitality for people in need," said volunteer resident Kathy Boylan. "This house has literally helped hundreds of people throughout the years. We are very grateful for the generosity of CITGO and the Venezuelan people."

"This house is so helpful for many people just like me who have trouble in this world," said Griselda, a mother who lives with her three children at the shelter. "I am so happy I found this place. I want to thank Joe Kennedy and CITGO for their help. They help so many people who need heat in the winter."

Citizens Energy, formed by Kennedy during the oil price shocks of the late 1970s, has provided discounted heating oil to the poor and the elderly for almost 30 years. The non-profit energy company has a relationship with Venezuela going back to its earliest years.

Families interested in receiving the discounted heating oil can call Citizens Energy at 1-877-JOE-4-OIL (1-877-564-4645). Once approved, the household receives an authorization letter and calls its heating oil dealer to arrange a delivery of up to 100 gallons of heating oil.

CITGO Receives Award Acknowledging Outreach to Latino Community

HOUSTON, May 5, 2009 --- Talento Bilingüe de Houston, a non-profit organization that has evolved into this city’s Latino Cultural Arts Center, has chosen CITGO Petroleum Corporation as the recipient of the organization’s prestigious Corporation of the Year 2008 Award.Houston Mayor Bill White presented CITGO with the award during Talento Bilingüe de Houston’s annual luncheon, which was held as part of 5 de Mayo festivities, to commemorate the victory of the Mexican military over the French Army at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.With the award, Talento Bilingüe de Houston recognized CITGO’s work in reaching out to the Latino community both in Houston and throughout the nation.“Music and dance awakens the passion in all of us but nothing excites CITGO as much as simply helping those in need through our social development programs, in alignment with principles and values of solidarity embraced by our shareholder, PDVSA, the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, ” said CITGO President and CEO Alejandro Granado about the award.The programs being implemented by CITGO include the Energy Efficiency Lighting Program, the CITGO-Venezuela Heating Oil program, and several educational and environmental projects. Most of them are being implemented in the Northeastern and Southwestern regions of the country and reach more than one million people each year. “In Texas, and especially in the city of Houston, we offer our support to several organizations, among them the Mexican Institute, The Kipp Academy, Neighborhood Centers, Friends for Life and Habitat for Humanity,” Granado added.In granting the award, Talento Bilingüe de Houston especially took into account the work done by CITGO through its supplier diversity initiative. This particular effort, launched last year, has been aimed at significantly increasing the number of minority and women-owned businesses that are part of the company’s supply chain. Thus, CITGO has offered support to the work of small companies while helping improve the quality of life in communities

News RoomCITGO Rallies to Support Jerry's Kids

HOUSTON (May 4, 2009) – In the current economy, many businesses are thinking twice about their support of charity and community programs for the sake of the bottom line. For the 739 employees at CITGO Petroleum’s headquarters, when it comes to supporting the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), the question of whether to give does not even cross their minds. For the past 23 years, CITGO, in alignment with the principles of social development of its shareholder, Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, has worked hand in hand with the organization, which provides support to families and research into the treatment of a wide range of neuromuscular diseases. At the recent MDA Campaign Week, CITGO employees once again came together for the cause to raise more than $100,000.

The week-long program at the Eldridge Parkway headquarters, which ran April 13-17, included daily fundraising activities and events for CITGO employees, including a bake sale, a corporate garage sale, an online auction, and a raffle that featured the chance to throw out a first pitch at the Houston Astros’ game on April 17. CITGO employees also were encouraged to contribute money to MDA through payroll deductions, an effort which alone raised more than $74,000 this year. On Friday, April 17, members of the Houston Astros also visited CITGO employees and their families to show their support and encourage even more donations to MDA.

“The entire CITGO family is deeply committed to MDA, and the Campaign Week events underline the enthusiasm we all have for the program,” said Jennifer Moos, brand development general manager with CITGO Petroleum. “We are proud to say that CITGO raised $102,000 for MDA through this year’s program, surpassing our goal of $100,000. This money, in addition to funds from year-long MDA fundraising efforts, will provide valuable support to the local MDA families in the Houston Gulf Coast region and help MDA’s efforts across the country.”

CITGO also was honored to host MDA’s National Goodwill Ambassador, nine-year-old Abbey Umali, who spoke to CITGO employees about the support MDA provides. Thanks to the generosity of the Houston Astros, Umali and her family were able to attend batting practice and meet Astros players before Friday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds. She later cheered on the team with her family and representatives from CITGO and MDA. In addition to the CITGO employee raffle winner, Abbey even had the honor of throwing out a first pitch at the start of the game with Astros Manager Cecil Cooper assisting her to the mound.

“We are so thankful to CITGO and the Astros for everything they do for families like ours,” said Joel Umali, whose daughter has Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) and benefits from the extensive services and programs that MDA offers. “There are challenges that we face every day, but witnessing the support of CITGO employees first hand helps us keep a positive attitude.”

CITGO, in collaboration with its business partners, marketers, vendors, retailers and employees, is the largest corporate sponsor of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, having raised more than $100 million over the past 23 years. CITGO employees, from the corporate, refining, terminal, and supply groups, regularly participate in MDA fundraising events. In addition, they are joined by the network of nearly 7,000 locally owned CITGO stations that raise money through programs such as annual holiday and St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock sales and golf tournaments.

“The effort that CITGO puts in to raising money and getting its entire community involved in MDA, from the corporate headquarters to the locally owned gas stations, is truly amazing,” said Chris Alvarez-Perry regional director of the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Houston Chapter. “This is the 23rd year of our partnership, and each year it gets better. The dedication of the entire CITGO family, along with the involvement of the Houston Astros players and staff, made this year’s MDA Campaign Week a success and brought joy to all those involved.”

For more information on MDA and the programs they undertake, visit www.MDA.org. For information on CITGO Petroleum Corporation and to find the locally owned CITGO station nearest you, visit www.CITGO.com.

*Ojo:Fidel Castro carece" solo "de Vitamina CCecina de Rex Pais :EspañaPuede ser servido: como aperitivoSe sirve: a una temperatura fria The brazier used to cook the meat is in the foreground.In Spanish, cecina means "meat that has been salted and dried by means of air, sun or smoke". The word comes either from the Latin siccus (dry) or from the celtic ciercina related to modern Spanish "cierzo" or Northern wind.The best known cecina is Cecina de León, which is made of the hind legs of beef, salted, smoked and air-dried in the province of León in Northwestern Spain, and has PGI status.It is often made with horsemeat.The word cecina is also used to name other kinds of dried or cured meat in Latin America. In Mexico, most cecina is of two kinds: sheets of beef that are marinated and a pork kind that is pounded thin and coated with chili pepper (this type is called cecina enchilada, or carne enchilada). [1] The beef version is salted and marinated and laid to dry somewhat in the sun. The town of Yecapixtla is well-known for its version of the dish which varies from region to region.

Vinos There have been five owners of Vega Sicilia since its inception to the present day. In 1864, Don Eloy de Lecanda intended to emulate Bordeaux on his estate at the Pago de la Vega Santa Cecilia y Carrascal, but he soon discovered that Ribera del Duero's native grape - Tinto Fino, or Tempranillo - performed to perfection in its own environment. The area's mixture of schistous base soil covered by a chalky subsoil, married to the region's altitude (600-700m above sea level) giving cool nights after hot days and a long ripening season, is all grist to the quality mill. In 1900, the Herrero family took over for half a century, and then Prodes SA, from 1950-64. The Hans Newmann ownership from 1964-1982 marked a fabulous period for Vega Sicilia, and a glittering array of riveting wines. By coincidence, the current owners, the Alvarez family, bought the estate in 1982, the year Ribera del Duero was made a Denominacin de Origen. Bodegas Vega Sicilia now owns about 1,000ha (hectares) of land, of which 250ha are under vine. Vega Sicilia Unico and Valbuena 5 Ao (so named because it is put on sale five years after the harvest) are made from selected grapes of top quality, from vines that are over 10 years old. The average age of Valbuena vines is around 25 years, and 45 years for Unico."WinesValbuena 5 Reserva 80% Tinto Fino, 10% Merlot, 10% Malbec, 27-29 months in oakVega Sicilia Unico Gran Reserva 80% Tempranillo, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 66-68 months in oakAddress:

The exhibition celebrates the beauty of Cuban art and culture as well as the importance of protecting and promoting freedom of expression around the world. The exhibition recognizes the role of art as an integral aspect of human rights. The City of West Hollywood and Amnesty International USA hope to educate and raise public awareness about conditions in Cuba.

On display April 1 - April 5 at the A&D Museum in West Hollywood, the exhibition commemorates the anniversary of the crackdown on dissent one year ago when 79 Cubans were arrested for the non-violent expression of their beliefs. The prisoners include journalists, human rights activists, owners of private libraries and members of banned pro-democratic political parties. They face prison terms from 5 to 20 years. One prisoner, Marcelo López Bañobre, a human rights defender with no past convictions, was sentenced in April 2003 to 15 years in prison. In addition to non-violent protest, Bañobre was also charged with sending information to Amnesty International regarding conditions in Cuba.

The City of West Hollywood was the first city in the United States to issue a Proclamation in support of the release of the prisoners. Amnesty International applauds the city for its bravery and solidarity.

It is our hope that you will view the exhibition, meet the artists, engage in spirited discourse and support our efforts on behalf of the Cuban Prisoners of Conscience and the people of Cuba.

Oscar B. Cintas, born in Sagua la Grande, Cuba, in 1887, was a prominent sugar and railroad magnate who served as Cuba’s ambassador to the United States from 1932 until 1934. He was educated in London and became director of the Cuban Railroad Company’s sugar mills in Punta Alegre, Jatibonico and Jobabo. He was president of Railroad Equipment of Brazil and Argentina, director of the American Car and Foundry and the American Locomotive Sales Corporation, and had business interests in Europe.

As a patron of the arts and with the advice of the legendary Alfred H. Barr Jr., Mr. Cintas assembled a collection of Old Masters and modern paintings that was once considered among the best in Latin America. In 1940, he lent one of the pieces from the collection, Rembrandt’s Portrait of a Rabbi on a Wide Cap, to the Masterpieces of Art exhibition at the New York World’s Fair.

Mr. Cintas also collected manuscripts, and his acquisitions included the sole first edition of Cervantes’ Don Quijote, and the fifth and final manuscript of Lincoln’s 1863 Gettysburg Address, once owned by the family of Col. Alexander Bliss, and known as the Bliss copy. Mr. Cintas’ purchase of the manuscript, for $54,000 in 1949, set a record at the time for the sale of a document at a public auction. Since Mr. Cintas’ death in 1957, the manuscript has been in the White House collection. (There, the document is displayed in the Lincoln Bedroom, a room not open for public tours. However, between Nov. 21, 2008 and Jan. 4, 2009, the manuscript will be on view at the documents gallery of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, which is reopening after a two-year renovation.)

Before his death, Mr. Cintas entrusted the administration of his estate, including his art collection, to the Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A., with Ethan Alyea serving as legal counsel. With the help and encouragement of David Rockefeller, Mr. Alyea named a blue ribbon board of trustees to carry out Mr. Cintas’ wishes for a foundation. Early members of the board included Theodore Rousseau, curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Porter A. McCray, director of the International Program at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and A. Hyatt Mayor, curator of prints at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The foundation’s original name, the Cuban Art Foundation, was changed in 1962 to honor its founder.

Creative Writers

Iván ACOSTA (b. 1944, Santiago de Cuba): A New York-based playwright, filmmaker and concert producer, Acosta wrote the play that became the basis for the classic Cuban-exile film, El Super, released in 1979. His 1985 film, Amigos, is a comedy about a Mariel refugee trying to make a home in Miami. In 2001, he released the documentary How to Create a Rumba, which uses interviews with Cuban musicians along with videos of their performances to trace the influence of the rumba in Cuban music. It was featured in the Latin Beat film festival at Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater. (Cintas for literature, 1979-80)

Magaly ALABAU (b. 1945, Cienfuegos): A writer as well as an actor and director, Alabau is the author of several collections of poems including Electra, Clitemnestra (1986), La extremaunción diaria (1986), Ras (1987), Hemos llegado a Ilión (1992) and Liebe (1993). She won the Latin Poetry Prize awarded by the Latin American Writers Institute for Hermana/Sister in 1992. As an actress, she has worked with La Mama, Duo Theater and Medusa’s Revenge, the last two experimental theater groups that she co-founded. (Cintas for literature, 1990-91)

Miguel ALASA: An actor, librettist, lyricist and playwright, Alasa’s play, Born to Rumba, ran for 520 performances at Duo Theater in New York, where he is artistic director, and became the longest running production by a U.S. Latino theater company. The musical Peggy and Jackson, which he wrote with composer David Welch, about the life of the artist Jackson Pollock, was presented by Joseph Papp at the Public Theatre. Other Alasa/Welch productions are Studio, Salon and Orphans. Alasa’s most recent piece is Chez Garbo. He is also an actor, and performed in the Broadway/National tours of Hair, Jesus Christ, Superstar, Tommy and Godspell. He works under the name of Michelangelo Alasa. (Cintas for literature, 1980-81, 1981-82)

Juan ALONSO: (Cintas for literature, 1972-73)

L. Ricardo ALONSO (b. 1929, Parres, Asturias): A lawyer, journalist and Cuba’s ambassador to several countries in the 1960s, Alonso moved to the United States and joined the faculty of the Spanish department at Franklin and Marshall College. His books include El Candidato, Los Dioses ajenos, El Palacio y la Furia and La estrella que cayó una noche en el mar, which won a literary prize in Spain. (Cintas for literature, 1973-74)

José Manuel ÁLVAREZ (b. 1902, Regla-d. United States): A poet, story teller and journalist as well as a lawyer, Álvarez’s books include Sentido social del urbanismo and Cuentos y crónicas cubanas. As a journalist, he worked for Revista Lex de los Auxiliares del Poder Judicial Cubano, Revista del Casino Español and the literary magazine LEX in Havana, and for Vanguardia, in New York. His work also appeared in several anthologies, including Poetas Jóvenes de Cuba, published in 1923. (Cintas for literature, 1982-83)

Reinaldo ARENAS (b. 1943-d. 1990 New York City): Arenas’ extensive body of work – novels, poetry, essays and plays – has been translated into a dozen languages and acclaimed the world over. He first won critical attention with the novel Celestino antes del alba, translated as Singing from the Well. The novel was followed by El mundo alucinante or Hallucinations, which was banned in Cuba but published in Mexico in 1969 and honored in France with the Medici Prize as the finest foreign novel of the year. He served two years in a Cuban prison and came to the United States on the Mariel boatlift in 1980. Among his other novels are Otra vez del mar, (Farewell to the Sea), El Central: A Cuban Sugar Mill, and Old Rosa: A Novel in Two Stories. The director Julian Schnabel captured the writers’ life in the 2000 film Before Night Falls, based on Arenas’ book of the same title. (Cintas for literature, 1981-82, 1986-87)

Octavio ARMAND (b. 1946, Guantanamo): Critic, poet, translator and founder and director of the literary magazine Escandalar, Armand’s books include the poetry collections Biografía para reacios; Cosas pasan, Superficies; Oregami; El pez folado and Son de ausencia. Refractions, published in 1994, includes essays as well as poems. (Cintas for literature, 1977-78)

Jesús J. BARQUET (b. 1953, Havana): An associate professor in the Department of Languages and Linguistics at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, Barquet is also a poet and critic and has lectured in various universities in Latin America. He came to the United States on the 1980 Mariel boatlift and received a masters and doctorate in Spanish at Tulane University. His critical work includes the books Consagración de La Habana (Las peculiaridades del Grupo Orígenes en el proceso cultural cubano), which received the Letras de Oro award from the University of Miami in 1991, and Escrituras poéticas de una nación: Dulce María Loynaz, Juana Rosa Pita y Carlota Caulfield, which received the Lourdes Casal Award in Havana. His poetry collections include Sin Decir el Mar, Sagradas Herejías, Ícaro, El Libro del Desterrado, El Libro de los Héroes and Naufragios. Barquet was writer-in-residence at the Altos de Chavón's Residency Program in 1994. (Cintas for literature, 1991-92)

Antonio BENÍTEZ-ROJO (b. 1931, Havana-d. 2005, Northampton, Mass.): The Thomas B. Walton Jr. Memorial professor at Amherst College at the time of his death, Benítez Rojo was the author of several books, including a trilogy on the Caribbean consisting of the novels Sea of Lentils and Mujer en Traje de Batalla and the essay collection The Repeating Island: The Caribbean and the Postmodern Perspective. Benítez Rojo was an economist at the Cuban Ministry of Labor when he wrote his first collection of short stories, Tute de Reyes, which won a Casa de las Américas prize in 1966. His stories have been translated to several languages and published in anthologies such as The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories and The Picador Book of Latin American Short Stories. He won the Kovacs award from the Modern Language Association and the Pushcart Prize for short stories. He wrote the script for the film Los Sobrevivientes, directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea. (Cintas for literature, 1990-91, 2002-03)Lourdes BLANCO (b. 1954, Havana): A poet and essayist, Blanco is the author of Genero y Santidad, the poem Edén and the play El Tiempo en Juego. She has received various fellowships, including a Whiting Fellowship in the Humanities, a research fellowship from the Social Research Council and a Playwrights in Residence grant from INTAR. (Cintas for Literature, 2004-2005)

Guillermo CARRIÓN: (Cintas for literature, 1968-69, 1969-70)

Luis CARTAÑÁ (b. 1942, Havana-d. 1989, Miami): Cartañá studied law in Spain, but saw himself primarily as a poet and in 1967 moved to Puerto Rico, where he taught Spanish literature for 20 years at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez. In 1986, on leave from the university, he moved to Madrid to pursue further studies in philology, but he became ill two years later, and moved to Miami, where he died. While in Puerto Rico, Cartañá became founding editor of the Jardín de Espejos imprint and participated in the creation of the Confederation of Latin American Writers. His poetry was collected in several volumes, including Canciones Olvidadas, Límites al Mar, La Mandarina y el fuego, Sobre la Música and La Joven Resina. Only days before his death, the Spanish publisher Editorial Betania issued a final book of poems, Permanencia del Fuego. Cartañá won poetry awards from the Association of Puerto Rican Writers and from the Clara Lair poetry contest. (Cintas for literature, 1983)

Lourdes CASAL (b. 1938, Havana-d. 1981, Havana): A writer and political activist, Casals received a Ph.D. in psychology from the New School of Social Research. She was the founding editor of the magazine Areíto, and was a frequent contributor to the magazine Nueva Generación. Casal wrote several books, including El Caso Padilla, Los Fundadores: Alfonso y otros cuentos, and the poetry collections Cuadernos de Agosto and Palabras juntan revolución, which was published posthumously and won the 1981 poetry prize for poetry from Casa de las Américas. In 1982, the Instituto de Estudios Cubanos, based in Miami, published an anthology of her work, titled Itinerario Ideológico. (Cintas for literature, 1974-75)Doris CASTELLANOS: (Cintas for literature, 1976-77, 1977-78)

Adrian CASTRO (b., Miami): A poet, performer and interdisciplinary artist, Castro addresses the migratory experience from Africa to the Caribbean to North America, and the ensuing clash of cultures. He is the author of Cantos to Blood & Honey, (Coffee House Press, 1997) and Wise Fish: Tales in 6/8 Time, (Coffee House Press, 2005), and has been published in many literary anthologies. He is the recipient of fellowships and awards from the State of Florida, NewForms Florida, the Academy of American Poets and NALAC, and has had commissions from Miami Light Project and the Miami Art Museum. He has performed his poetry at the Nuyorican Poets’ Café in New York; the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado; the Hemingway Literary Festival in Chicago, and the Miami Book Fair International. The New York Times Book Review selected Wise Fish as an editor’s choice. Castro is also a Babalawo and herbalist. He lives in Miami. (Cintas in literature, 2008-09)

Rafael CATALÁ: A poet and essayist, Catalá is one of the editors of the Index of American Periodical Verse. His poetry collections include Caminos/Roads, Círculo cuadrado, Ojo sencillo/Triquitraque and Copulantes. His poetry and essays have been published in magazines and newspapers such as The New York Times, Cuaderno de Norte, Diálogos, Plural, Cuadernos Universitarios and Revista Iberoamericana. In 1983 he directed the Rácata Poetry Workshop at Hostos Community College in New York, which led to the publication of Soles emellis, which he describes as both an anthology of work written during the workshop as well as a guide to producing similar programs. (Cintas for literature, 1984-85)

Carlota CAULFIELD (b. 1953): A poet and critic, Caulfield received her Ph.D. in Spanish and Portuguese from Tulane University and is associate professor of Hispanic Studies at Mills College. Her nine poetry books include 34th Street and other poems,Book of the XXXIX steps: A poetry game of discovery and imagination CD—ROM and Autorretrato en ojo ajeno. She is also the author of Literary and Cultural Journeys: Selected Letters to Arturo Torres-Rioseco, Web of Memories: Interviews with Five Cuban Poets, and Voces Viajeras. Caulfield’s work has appeared in several literary magazines and anthologies and she has won numerous citations, including the International Poetry Prize Riccardo Marchi-Torre di Calafuria, in Italy and, in 2002, the first Dulce Maria Loynaz Hispanic-American poetry prize for her manuscript Movimentos metálicos para juguetes abandonados. She was a visiting fellow at the University of London’s Institute of Romance Studies in 2002. (Cintas for literature, 1987-88)

Miguel CORREA (b. 1956, Placetas): A professor in the department of Modern Languages at Hostos Communicty College in New York, Correa received his Ph.D. from the Graduate School and University Center in New York, with a dissertation titled Reinaldo Arenas: Imagen del autor implícito desde la textualidad. He has taught St. Peter’s College, Lehman College, Rutgers University and Hunter College. Correa’s critical pieces have appeared in the magazines Letralia, Espéculo and Fe de Errata. He is the author of two novels, Al Norte del Infierno and Fragmentos del Discurso Humano, which received a first prize award from the Continental Association of Latin America and was a finalist in the Letras de Oro competition sponsored by the University of Miami. He also received the Hunter College Literary Academy Prize for the short story El Corrector. The Firestone Library of Princeton University purchased the original manuscripts of his novels for its permanent collections. (Cintas for literature, 1984-85)

Mercedes CORTÁZAR (b. 1940, Havana): A poet, playwright, novelist and journalist, Cortázar is the editor of the literary Web site Expoescritores (www.expoescritores.com). Her work has been published in literary magazines and newspapers – both printed and on the Web – in Spain, France, the United States and various countries in Latin America. She was the poetry consultant for Farrar, Straus & Giroux, for the English translation of José Lezama Lima’s novel, Paradiso. In New York, in 1962, she was a founder of Protesta, possibly the first literary magazine by Cuban exiles. (Cintas for literature, 1971-72)

Angel CUADRA (b. Havana): After graduating from the University of Havana, Cuadra practiced law in Cuba until he was imprisoned for his political beliefs. He moved to the United States in 1985 and obtained a master’s degree in Hispanic Studies from Florida International University. Cuadra has taught at FIU and Miami Dade College, where he ran the Spanish-language program of MDC’s Miami International Book Fair. Cuadra became the first Latin American writer to receive the Amantes del Teruel award for poetry. His poetry collections include Peldaño, Impromptus, Tiempo del Hombre, Las Señales y los Sueños, for which he won the Teruel, and Diez Sonetos Ocultos. He is also the author of Escritores en Cuba socialista and José Martí: Análisis y Conclusiones. (Cintas for literature, 1989-90)

Silvia CURBELO (b. 1955, Matanzas): The Tampa-based poet and editor has been published in journals such as American Poetry Review and Kenyon Review and in several anthologies. She is the author of two poetry books, The Geography of Leaving and The Secret History of Water, which became the first volume issued by the Anhinga Press in its Florida Poetry Series. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Florida Arts Council, the Seaside Institute and the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Curbelo won the Jessica Noble Maxwell Memorial Poetry Prize given by the American Poetry Review and the James Wright Award for Poetry from Mid-American Review. She is managing editor of Organica Quarterly. (Cintas for literature, 1991-92, 1998-99)

Belkis CUZA MALÉ (b. 1942): A poet, essayist and journalist based in Fort Worth, Texas, she is the founder and director of La Casa Azul: Heberto Padilla Cuban Cultural Center, an institution that promotes Cuban literature and art. She is also editor of Linden Lane Magazine, a quarterly literary journal founded in Princeton in 1982, three years after her arrival in the United States. Cuza Malé is the author of El Clavel y la Rosa, a biography of the 19th century Cuban poet Juana Borrero, Elvis: The Unquiet Grave or The True Story of Jon Burrows, and the poetry collections Woman on the Front Lines and Juego de Damas. (Cintas for literature, 1981-82).

Uva de ARAGÓN (b. 1944, Havana): A poet, novelist, essayist and newspaper columnist, de Aragón is also associate editor of Cuban Studies and professor of humanities and assistant director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University FIU. Her books include Alfonso Hernández-Catá: Un escritor cubano, salamantino y universal; Los Nombres del Amor and Memoria del Silencio, the story of a reunion between Cubans from both sides of the Florida Straits. Memoria del Silencio was one of several books by Cuban exiles presented at the 2002 Guadalajara book fair, which was dedicated to Cuba. She has received many awards, including a Distinguished Author Award from Coalition of Hispanic American Women. De Aragón has a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Latin American Literature from the University of Miami. (Cintas for literature, 1980-81).

Carlos A. DÍAZ: A poet and novelist, Díaz is the founder of the editorial house La Torre de Papel. (Cintas for literature, 1986-87).

Jesús DÍAZ (b. 1941, Havana-d. 2002, Madrid): At the time of his death, Díaz was editor of Encuentro, a magazine he founded in 1996 to publish the works of Cuban intellectuals from the island and in exile. He was the author of several novels, including Las Iniciales de la Tierra, Las Palabras Perdidas, Siberiana and La Piel y la Máscara. His short story collection, Los Años Duros, won the Casa de las Américas award in 1966. Díaz was also a filmmaker and directed, among others, Lejanía, about an exiled woman who returns to Cuba to visit her son, and 55 Hermanos, the story of young Cuban exiles who returned to their homeland in the 1970s. In Cuba, he was founder and editor of the cultural magazine El Caimán Barbudo. (Cintas for literature, 2000).

Margarita ENGLE (b. 1951, Pasadena, Calif.): A botanist by training, she was a professor of agronomy and an irrigation specialist in Southern California before she turned to writing. Her column is syndicated by Hispanic Link News Service and has appeared in more than 200 U.S. newspapers. Her fiction has been published in many journals and magazines, including The Americas Review and Revista Interamericana. She is the author of two novels, Skywriting and Singing to Cuba. Engle is the winner of the San Diego Book Award. (Cintas for literature, 1994-95)

Amando FERNÁNDEZ (b. 1949, Havana-d. 1994, Miami): A poet and teacher, Fernández published nine collections of poems between 1986 and 1993, including Herir el tiempo,El ruiseñor y la espada and Museo natural. The collections Ciudad, isla invisible and El riesgo calculado, were published posthumously, in 1994. Fernández won several awards for his poetry, among them the Luis de Góngora, the Juan Ramón Jiménez and the Antonio González de Lama prizes. He received a special recognition from the city of Badajoz, Spain, in 1990. Fernández was a graduate of Florida International University and taught at the Interamerican Campus of Miami Dade College. (Cintas for literature, 1987-88)

Damián FERNÁNDEZ: A professor of international relations at Florida International University and the director of FIU’ Cuban Research Institute, Fernández’s work has focused on Cuban politics, Latin American international relations and postmodern theory and culture. He is the author of Cuba and the Politics of Passion and Cuba's Foreign Policy in the Middle East, and the editor of Cuban Studies since the Revolution, and Central America and the Middle East: The Internationalization of the Crises. He has co-edited several other books, most recently Cuba, the Elusive Nation: Reinterpretation of National Identity, with Madeline Cámara. Fernández has conducted research in Cuba, Brazil, Peru, Honduras, Panama and several other Caribbean countries. Fernández received a B.A. from Princeton University and a Ph.D. from the University of Miami. (Cintas for literature, 1981-82)Roberto G.FERNÁNDEZ (b. 1950, Sagua la Grande): A poet and playwright, Fernández is a professor of modern languages at Florida State University in Tallahassee. His books in Spanish include Cuentos sin rumbo and La montaña rusa. In English, he has written Raining Backwards and Holy Radishes, a satirical novel set in the Florida Everglades. (Cintas for literature, 1986-87)

María Irene FORNÉS (b. 1931, Havana): The author of dozens of plays and winner of several Obie awards, Fornés is one of the most respected names in American theater. In 2000, Off-Broadway's prestigious Signature Theatre Company devoted its 10th anniversary season to her work, which includes Fefu and Her Friends, Mud, Abingdon Square and Letters from Cuba. With the composer Robert Ashley, Fornés wrote Balseros, an opera based on the experiences of Cuban rafters and their efforts to reach the United States. It premiered in Miami Beach in 1997. Fornés moved from Cuba to New York in 1945; she was originally trained as an artist, but devoted herself to the stage after joining the Judson Poets Theater and the Open Theater in the 1960s. (Cintas for literature, 1967-68)

Ignacio GALBIS (b. 1931 Havana-d. 1997): A graduate of the Havana University School of Law, Galbis practiced law in Cuba, but dedicated himself to teaching once he moved to the United States in 1961. He received a Ph.D. in literature from Syracuse University, and taught literature at Southern California University, Davis University and the University of Riverside, California. He was national executive secretary of the Sigma Delta Pi honor society. Among his publications are Unamuno: Tres personajes existenciales, Baroja: El lirismo de tono menor, and De mío Cid a Alfonso Reyes, perspectivas críticas. His collection of short stories is titled Trece relatos sombríos. (Cintas for literature, 1982-83)

Cristina GARCÍA (b. 1958, Havana): A former TIME Magazine correspondent in Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles, García is the author of three acclaimed novels, Dreaming in Cuban, The Agüero Sisters and Monkey Hunting, a narrative on the Cuban-Chinese experience that spans five generations and two centuries. She is the editor of Cubanísimo!, an anthology of stories, essays, poems and novel excerpts. García grew up in Brooklyn and attended Barnard College before receiving a master’s degree from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She has been a Guggenheim Fellow, a Hodder Fellow at Princeton University and the recipient of a Whiting Writers Award. (Cintas for literature, 1992-93, 1998-99)

Francisco R. GARCÍA (b. 1924, Victoria de las Tunas-d. 1999) A critic and art historian, García was the author of Latin American Painters in New York, Maternity in Pre Columbian Art, Jose Martí y las artes plásticas and Jose Martí y la pintura española, among other works. García founded Les Petites Galleries and the Galería Cubana de Pintura y Escultura in Havana, and later directed the Sardio Gallery in Caracas and the Cisneros Gallery in New York City. He also directed and edited the magazines Decoración Interior and Artes in Havana, and from 1976 until his death, the newspaper Noticias de Arte, in New York. He was a member of the Círculo de Escritores y Poetas Iberoamericanos. García wrote under the pen name Florencio García Cisneros. (Cintas for literature, 1964-65)

Lorenzo GARCÍA VEGA (b. 1926): The author of several collections of poems, novels and essays, García Vega was honored in 2002 by the Argentine magazine Diario de Poesía for his role as a member of the legendary Cuban literary group Orígenes, and “as an extraordinary writer and exceptional witness to contemporary Cuban history.” His books include the poetry collections Suite para la espera, Ritmos acribillados and Variaciones a como veredicto para sol de otras dudas; the novel Espirales del cuje; and Los Años de Orígenes and Antología de la novela cubana. (Cintas for literature, 1981-82).

Rita GEADA (b. 1934, Pinar del Río): A professor of Spanish literature, Geada received a doctorate from the University of Havana and did post-doctoral work at the University of Buenos Aires. Her short stories and poems, which have been translated into English, Italian, Portuguese and French, have been included in several anthologies. Geada has also published numerous literary essays. Among her poetry collections are Desvelado Slencio, Cuando Cantan las Pisadas, Vertizonte, Otoño en New England, Mascarada, for which she received a Carabela award, and Espejo de la Tierra, which won the 2001 international Luis Santamarina City of Cieza prize. (Cintas for literature, 1978-79)

Lourdes GIL: (b. 1950, Havana): A writer, teacher, editor and journalist, Gil is the author of the poetry collections El cerco de las transfiguraciones, Empieza la Ciudad, Blanca Aldaba Preludia, Vencido el Fuego de la Especie, Manuscrito de la Niña Ausente and Neumas. She frequently writes for cultural magazines such as Encuentro and her work has appeared in many anthologies. Gil studied at New York University and Fordham University and teaches at Baruch College, CUNY and the Tenafly Adult School of New Jersey. She was co-director of the litterary magazines Lyra and Románica. In 1994, she was guest editor of Brújula, the magazine of the New York Institute of Latin American Writers. As a journalist, she has worked for The Jersey Journal, Hearst International Publications and Editors Press Service. Her work has been recognized by the New Jersey State Council for the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, among others. (Cintas for literature, 1979-80. 1991-92)

Martin GURRI: (Cintas for literature, 1980-81)

Rodolfo HASLER (b. 1958, Santiago de Cuba): A poet and translator, Hasler’s poems have been collected in several volumes, including Poemas de Arena, Tratado de Licantropía, De la belleza del puro pensamiento, Poemas de la rue de Zurich and Elleife, which earned him the Aula award in Barcelona. His work has been selected for anthologies, including Anthologie de la Poésie Cubaine du XXème. Siècle and Nueva Poesía Latinoamericana. He translated the complete poems of Novalis into Spanish. Hasler lives in Barcelona, where he is co-editor of Poesía-Barcelona magazine. (Cintas 1993-94)Oscar HIJUELOS (b.1951, New York City): The first Hispanic to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, Hijuelos is the author of the novels Our House in the Last World, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien, Empress of the Splendid Season, Mr. Ives’ Christmas and A Simple Habana Melody. He received a master’s degree from City College of New York and is the winner of a Breadloaf Writers Conference scholarship as well as grants from the Creative Artists Programs Service, the Ingram Merrill Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. His Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, was made into a film starring Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas. (Cintas for literature, 1977-78)

Daniel IGLESIAS-KENNEDY (b. 1950, Havana): La ranura del horizonte en llamas, Iglesias-Kennedy’s first novel, was smuggled out of Cuba and went on to become a finalist for the Sésamo award. Since leaving Cuba for Spain in 1985, he has written three other novels, El Gran Incendio, La Hija del Cazador and Esta tarde se pone el sol. In 1985, he won the Cuentos Puerta de Oro award. Iglesias-Kennedy, who has a doctorate in English philology, is also a translator and scriptwriter, and has been a consultant for documentaries in Canada and England. He teaches at his own Instituto de Idiomas in Talavera de la Reina, Spain. (Cintas for literature, 1990-91)

Maya ISLAS (b. 1947, Cabaiguán): The co-founder of the literary magazine Palabras y Papel, published in New York City, Islas has published a number of books, including Sola... Desnuda... Sin nombre, Sombras-Papel, La Mujer Completa, Altazora Acompañando a Vicente and Merla. She was recognized with a Carabela de Plata poetry award for Palabras del ave and with the first poetry award given by the Institute of Latin American Writers in New York. She was twice a finalist for the Letras de Oro from the University of Miami and her poetry has appeared in several anthologies including Poetas Cubanos en Nueva York, Daughters of the Fifth Sun, The Arc of Love and Floricanto Si! Latina Poetry. Islas was writer in residence at Altos de Chavon in the Dominican Republic. (Cintas for literature, 1990-91)

Iraida ITURRALDE (b. Havana): An educator and translator as well as a poet, Iturralde was editor of the literary magazines Románica and Lyra and president of the Cuban Cultural Center of New York. Among her poetry collections are Hubo la Viola, El Libro de Josafat, Tropel de Espejos, Discurso de las Infantas and La Isla Rota. Her poetry has been published in journals in America and Europe and has appeared in various anthologies, including Fiesta del Poeta, Poetas Cubanos en Nueva York and Los Atrevidos: Cuban American Writers. She has received awards from the Ford Foundation and the Mid-Atlantic States Arts Consortium. Iturralde studied political science at New York University and Columbia. (Cintas for literature, 1982-83)

José KOZER (b. 1940, Havana) A prolific poet, Kozer has published more than 30 books of poetry, including Padres y otras profesiones, Y así tomaron posesión en las ciudades, Bajo este cien, El carillón de los muertos, Trazas del Lirondo, Et Mutabile and Una Huella Destartalada. His work has been translated into several languages. Kozer is also an essayist and translator, and taught Spanish and Latin American Literature at Queens College (CUNY) for 32 years. (Cintas for literature 1974-75).

Pablo LA ROSA: A professor of Spanish literature at Baker University in Kansas, La Rosa writes stories about identity and memory with a strong social content. He describes his short story collection, Forbidden Fruit and Other Stories, as a summation of his life as a writer. He was a finalist in the Letras de Oro competition at the University of Miami and received an honorable mention in the Kansas Quarterly Fiction Awards. La Rosa is also a poet, and won honorable mention in the Seaton Poetry Awards. (Cintas for literature, 1982-83).

Felipe LÁZARO ÁLVAREZ (b. 1948, Güines): A poet and critic, Lázaro Álvarez founded Testimonio magazine in 1968 and was a founding member of Encuentro de la Cultura Cubana. He has directed Editorial Betania since 1987 and was editor in chief of the newspaper La Prensa del Caribe, edited by the Caribbean Studies Center in Madrid. Among his books are the poetry collections Despedida del asombro, Las aguas and Conversación con Gastón Baquero and Gastón Baquero: La invención de lo cotidiano. Lázaro Álvarez studied at the Universidad Complutense. (Cintas for literature, 1987-88)

Cesar Eugenio LEANTE (b. 1928, Matanzas): After beginning his career as a journalist, radio and television writer, Leante became cultural attaché to the Cuban embassy in Paris. He has written the novels Padres e Hijos, Muelle de Caballería and Los Guerrilleros Negros (published in Spain as Capitán de Cimarrones) as well as books on Fidel Castro, Ernest Hemingway and Gabriel García Márquez and two volumes of memoirs, Volviendo la Mirada and Revive. He moved to Madrid in 1981. (Cintas for literature, 1988-89)

Pablo LE RIVEREND (b. 1907, Montevideo, Uruguay-d. 1991, Newark): A writer and critic, Le Riverend was the author of several books of poetry, including De un Doble, Por Más Señas, Hijo de Cuba Soy, Ir tolerando el latigo del tiempo and Espuma para los Días. He also compiled and wrote Diccionario Biográfico de poetas cubanos en el exilio. His work is in the anthologies Poesía en Éxodo, Bibliografía crítica de la poesía cubana and Narradores cubanos de hoy. Le Riverend taught Spanish at Heidelberg College in Ohio between 1965 and 1972. He studied at the University of Havana. (Cintas for art, 1987-88)

Robert. F. LIMA, Jr. (b.1935, Havana): A literary critic, biographer, editor, poet and translator, Lima is professor emeritus of Spanish and Comparative Literature at the Pennsylvania State University. He is a fellow emeritus of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities and a corresponding member of Spain’s Real Academia de la Lengua. Among his 20 books are The Theatre of García Lorca, Valle Inclán: The Theatre of His Llife (which was translated into Spanish) and Dark Prisms: Occultism in Hispanic Drama. More than 300 of his poems have been published in journals in the United States and abroad; they have also been collected in six books, including Poems of Exile and Alienation, Fathoms, Mayaland and Tracking the Minotaur. Lima has a Ph.D. in romance languages and literature from New York University. He was a senior Fulbright-Hays fellow in Peru, where he was poet-in-residence at the Universidad de San Marcos. (Cintas for literature, 1971-72)

Ismael LORENZO (b. 1945): One of the editors of the 1980s New York based magazine Unveiling Cuba, Lorenzo is the author of the novels La Hostería del Tesoro, Alicia en las mil y una camas, La Ciudad Maravillosa and Matías Pérez entre los locos. He received a silver medal from L’Academie des Arts, Science et Lettres in Paris in 1985. (Cintas for literature, 1985-86)

Gustav MAGRINAT (b. 1947, Havana): A graduate of Harvard University with a magna cum laude in English literature, Magrinat was a translator, writer and contributing editor of the Wilson Quarterly until 1983, when he enrolled at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill to pursue a degree in medicine. He now practices medicine in Greensboro, North Carolina, and looks forward to writing again once he retires. (Cintas for literature, 1979-80)

Manuel MARTÍN (b.1934, Artemisa-d. 2000, New York): A writer, actor and theater director, Martín was one of the first Cuban playwrights to bring Cuban exile issues to the English-language stage, with plays such as Union City Thanksgiving, Swallows, Rasputin, Fight, and the musical Carmencita. He moved to New York in the 1950s and attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. With Cintas winner Magaly Alabau, he founded the Duo Theater in 1969, where he conducted workshops. Among the many plays he directed are Botánica, by Dolores Prida, and Julia de Burgos, by Carmen Rivera. In the 1970s, he taught theater to prisoners at Sing-Sing. Martín won two Fullbright fellowships. (Cintas 1985-86)

Yolanda MARTÍN: (Cintas for literature, 1981-82)

Pablo MEDINA (b. Havana): A poet, novelist and educator, Medina has collaborated with musicians to explore the ways music and poetry can enrich each other. He has published four poetry collections, Pork Rind and Cuban Songs, Arching into the Afterlife, The Floating Island and Puntos de Apoyo; a memoir titled Exiled Memories: A Cuban Childhood; and two novels, The Marks of Birth and The Return of Felix Nogara. With Carolina Hospital, he wrote Everyone Will Have to Listen/Todos me van a tener que oir, a collection of translations from the Spanish of pieces by Cuban dissident Tania Díaz Castro. He has been the recipient of grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Program, the New Jersey and Pennsylvania State Arts Councils and the United States Information Agency. Medina serves on the faculty of the Warren Wilson College’s MFA Program for Writers in Asheville, North Carolina, and on the board of directors of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) and the Cuban Cultural Center of New York. He received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Georgetown University. (Cintas for literature, 1979-80)

Carlos Alberto MONTANER (b. 1943, Havana): A publisher, writer and political activist, Montaner has written extensively on Cuban and Latin American issues. He is the director of Firma Press, an agency that distributes opinion pieces to Latin American and European newspapers, and of Editorial Playor, a book publishing house. Among his works are Raíces torcidas de América Latina; Viaje al corazón de Cuba, Cuba: Un siglo de doloroso aprendizaje, Cómo y por qué desapareció el comunismo, Libertad: La clave de la prosperidad and the novels Perromundo and 1898: La Trama. With Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza and Álvaro Vargas Llosa, he wrote Manual del perfecto idiota latinoamericano and Fabricantes de Miseria. Montaner has lectured widely in universities in Latin America and the United States. He is the leader of the political organization Union Liberal Cubana, affiliated with the Liberal International, of which he is a vice president. (Cintas for literature, 1975-76)

Alicia “Achy” OBEJAS (b. 1956, Havana): A cultural journalist for the Chicago Tribune, Obejas is a poet, novelist and short-story writer. Her second novel, Days of Awe, was selected for the Los Angeles Times' Best Books of 2001 list. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Studs Terkel and the Peter Lisagor awards in journalism and the Lambda Literary Awards for her novels. Her work has appeared in a number of anthologies and literary magazines, and she is a frequent contributor to The Village Voice. Obejas has an MFA from Warren Wilson College. (Cintas for literature, 2000).

Martha PADILLA (b. 1928, Puerta de Golpe, Pinar del Río-d. 2004, Miami): The winner of a Carabela de Oro, the poet Martha Padilla first published her work in Cuba when she was 20 years old. That first book, Comitiva al Crepúsculo, was followed by La Alborada del Tigre, El fin del tiempo injusto, Los Tigres del Miserere, Perfil de Frente and Remedio Santo. Padilla wrote frequently for El Nuevo Herald. She was the sister of the poet Heberto Padilla. (Cintas for literature, 1973-74).

Ricardo PAU LLOSA (b. 1954, Havana): A poet, art critic and educator, Pau-Llosa’s poetry collections include Vereda Tropical, Cuba, Bread of the Imagined, Sorting Metaphors and The Mastery Impulse. As an art critic, he has specialized in 20th Century Latin American painting and sculpture, having published texts on Olga de Amaral, Rafael Soriano, Rogelio Polesello, Fernando de Szyszlo and Cuban art in exile, among others. He is a senior editor for Art International magazine and was guest curator at the Lima Biennial. (Cintas for literature, 1984-85)

Mario PENA: (Cintas for literature, 1972-73)

Francisco PÉREZ-RIVERA (b. 1938, Vertientes): A long-time cultural journalist, Pérez-Rivera became the first entertainment editor of the Associated Press’ Latin American desk in 1992. He is the author of the poetry collection Construcciones, the novel Sabanas y el Tiempo and the short story collections Cuentos cubanos and Varadero y otros cuentos. He also co-authored the book Introducción a la Literatura Española. Pérez-Rivera studied journalism in Cuba and received a master’s degree from the University of Munich. He is the winner of first prizes for short stories in contests sponsored by the Círculo de Escitores y Poetas and the Círculo de Cultura Panamericana. (Cintas for literature 1980-81)

John PIROMAN: (Cintas for literature, 1983-84)

Dolores PRIDA: A journalist, critic, poet and playwright, Prida had a major success in 2000 with the critically acclaimed off-Broadway revue Four Guys Named José and Una Mujer named María. Her other plays include Casa Propia, Beautiful Señoritas, Coser y Cantar and Botánica. She is the translator of the Julia Álvarez novels Yo! and In The Name of Salome. Prida received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Mount Holyoke College. (Cintas for literature, 1976-77)

Isel RIVERO (b. 1941, Havana): Widely published in Latin America and Spain, Rivero’s first book, a collection of prose poems titled Fantasías de la Noche, was followed by La Marcha de los Hurones, Tundra: Poema a Dos Voces, translated to French, El Banquete: Poema and Night Rained Her: Poems, with drawings by Carol Henderson. The author gave poetry readings during the 1980s in Africa and in the early in 1990s in Central America, as she combined her vocation as a poet with her professional life as an international civil servant. She was a contributor to Sisterhood is Global, the history-making women´s world anthology prepared in 1985 by the American author Robin Morgan, and has written for MS Magazine. As director of the United Nations Information Centre in Madrid, she sponsored several activities related to women´s human rights and poetry. (Cintas for literature, 1965-1966)

Eugenio RODRÍGUEZ: (Cintas for literature, 1982-83)

José Mario RODRÍGUEZ (b. 1940, Güira de Melena- d. 2002, Madrid): Known professionally as José Mario, Rodríguez authored a volume of children’s plays and more than a dozen poetry collections, among them Clamor Agudo, La Torcida raíz de tanto daño and Muerte del amor por la soledad. An anthology of his poetry, El Grito y otros poemas, was published by Betania in 2000. He was one of the founders Ediciones El Puente, which published the work of young writers in Cuba during the 1960s, but was eventually shut down by the Cuban government. Rodríguez revived El Puente in 1968 after he moved to Madrid, where he also founded Ediciones La Gota de Agua. Reporting on his death, Madrid’s El País newspaper called him “one of the indispensable figures of Cuban poetry during the second half of the 20th century” (Cintas for literature, 1972-73, 1973-74)

Miguel SALES (b. 1951, Havana): A political prisoner for eight years, Sales’ poetry won an award from the New York Circle of Ibero-American Writers and Poets while he was detained in La Cabaña. His book Desencuentros, containing poems written in prison, was reissued in 1995. His work is included in the anthology Ínsulas al Pairo. Sales is also a writer of essays. He lives in Paris. (Cintas for literature, 1981-82)

Ana SIMO: An essayist and playwright, Simo wrote the essay, Lydia Cabrera: An Intimate Portrait, for the exhibition at Intar Latin American Gallery in 1984. She is also the author of Cinco Miradas sobre Cortázar and of the play Going to New England. (Cintas for literature, 1969-70, 1970-71)

Luis SUÁREZ VILLA: A professor at the University of California (Irvine), Suárez Villa teaches in the interdisciplinary School of Social Ecology, where his research interests are in the areas of technology and innovation, social and economic development, and regional analysis. He has received two Fulbright fellowships and has authored or co-authored dozens of articles and three books, including Invention and the Rise of Tecnocapitalism. Suárez Villa studied architecture before earning his doctorate at Cornell University in public policy and planning. (Cintas for literature, 1973-74)

Nivaria TEJERA (b. 1933, Cienfuegos): A resident of Paris since 1954, Tejera’s books include El Barranco, Sonámbulo del Sol and Espero la noche para soñarte, revolución. Among the awards she has received are the Premio Biblioteca Breve, from the Spanish publishing house Seix Barral. (Cintas for literature, 1978-79)

Omar TORRES (b. 1945, Victoria de las Tunas): A poet, novelist and playwright, Torres’ books include the poetry collections Conversación Primera, Tiempo Robado and De Nunca a Siempre, and the novels Al Partir, based on an anecdote from the Spanish American War, and Apenas un Bolero, which served as the basis for his English-language novel Fallen Angels Sing. Torres studied literature at Queens College, New York. (Cintas for literature, 1978-79)

José TRIANA (b. 1932, Camagüey): An actor and playwright, Triana’s La Noche de los Asesinos is considered the most translated and performed of all Cuban plays. It was originally staged in Havana and went on to win awards from Casa de las Américas and the VII Latin American Theater Festival in Havana. His other plays include El Mayor General, Medea en el Espejo, La Muerte del Neque, El Parque de la Fraternidad, Revolico en el Campo de Marte, Cinco Mujeres and Palabras Comunes, which, like La Noche de los Asesinos (under the English title, The Criminals) was staged in London by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Triana published a book of poetry, La Madera del Sueño. He is the winner of a Guggenheim fellowship and has lived in Paris since 1980. (Cintas for literature, 1985-86)

Alina TROYANO (b. 1951, Havana): Probably best known for one of her characters, Carmelita Tropicana, Troyano is a playwright, essayist and performance artist who won an Obie for sustained excellence of performance with her culture-crossing creations. Her prose and plays, which include Chicas 2000 and Milk of Amnesia, were collected in I, Carmelita Tropicana: Performing Between Cultures. (Cintas for literature, 1995-96)

Roberto VALERO (b. 1955, Matanzas – d. 1994, Washington, D.C.): The author of five books of poems, an essay on the work of Cuban author Reinaldo Arenas and the novel This Lenten Wind, Valero came to the United States on the 1980 Mariel boatlift and was one of the founders of the literary magazine Mariel, published in New York City during the 1980s. He studied at the University of Havana and later received a doctorate from Georgetown University. His poetry collections include Desde un Oscuro Ángulo and No Estaré en tu Camino. Valero won the Letras de Oro from the University of Miami for The Homeless Humor of Reinaldo Arenas. (Cintas for literature, 1982-83)

Armando VALLADARES: After spending 22 years in a political prison in Cuba, where he wrote the poetry collection Desde mi silla de ruedas, Valladares came to the United States in 1982. He served as a U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in Geneva under Presidents Regan and Bush. His memoir, Contra toda esperanza (Against All Hope) became an international best-seller. (Cintas for literature, 1983-84)

Jorge VALLS ARANGO: (Cintas for literature, 1986-87)

Julio VERA (b. 1952, San José de los Ramos): Vera has written television pilots, episodes and feature films for CBS, ABC and Warner Brothers and also works as an archivist for the Science and Technology Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America, the West Society of American Archivists and the Association of Moving Image Archivists. He received a Sam Goldwyn Writing Award from the Goldwyn Foundation and is listed in Who’s Who Among Hispanics in America. Vera has a bachelor’s degree from Carnegie-Mellon University and a master of fine arts from the University of California, Los Angeles. (Cintas for literature, 1975-76)

Carlos VICTORIA (b. 1950, Camagüey – d. 2007, Miami): A prize-winning writer in Cuba, Victoria left the island on the Mariel boatlift after Cuban authorities arrested him and confiscated his manuscripts. Since arriving in the United States, his work has been published in anthologies and literary magazines in Europe and Latin America as well as in this country. Among his books are Las Sombras en la Playa, El Resbaloso y otros cuentos, La Ruta del Mago (these last two also published in French) El Salón del Ciego and La Travesía Secreta, selected as the best novel of November 2001 by the publisher Phebus. His novel Puente en la Oscuridad received a Letras de Oro award and was recently published in English with the title A Bridge in DarkneSS. Victoria is an editor at El Nuevo Herald. (Cintas for literature, 1993-94)

Laura YMAYO TARTAKOFF (b. 1954). An adjunct professor in the political science department at Case Western Reserve University, where she has received numerous teaching awards, Ymayo Tartakoff is also a lawyer specializing in constitutional law, civil liberties and Latin American issues. She received a law degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1990, a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and master’s degrees from Tufts University and the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Her essays have appeared in European Community, La Tribune de Genève and Legal Writing: The Journal of the Legal Writing Institute. She is coeditor of Poetry and Politics: Selected Poems of Heberto Padilla. Her books of poetry include Mujer Martes and Entero Lugar, Íntimo Color. Her poems were selected for El Zunzún viajero, a series edited by Juana Rosa Pita. (Cintas, 1977-78)